Yankees: Ranking their top five moves of the offseason thus far

Throughout the offseason, the Yankees have been one of the busiest teams in baseball. They have made a slew of moves to try to improve the club and each one should pay serious dividends this upcoming season.

I know they haven’t made the splashy move to sign either Bryce Harper or Manny Machado (as of yet), but that doesn’t mean the Yankees haven’t had a very successful offseason. I’d say they’ve had as good of a hot stove season as you could have up to this point and there’s still a little over two weeks to go before pitchers and catcher report to spring training.

The Yanks and GM Brian Cashman have addressed multiple needs most noticeably by bolstering their starting rotation. Last October, poor starting pitching was probably their biggest downfall and the main reason why they were sent home early by their arch rivals the Red Sox.

They’ve also continued to invest a lot of money into a bullpen that was already arguably the best in baseball a season ago. They re-signed Brett Gardner and CC Sabathia, the two longest-tenured Yankees from last year’s club and the top two leaders in their clubhouse. They’ve shored up their infield defense and have found a short term replacement for the injured Didi Gregorius in veteran shortstop Troy Tulowitzki.

They did lose free agent David Robertson to the Phillies and just this week they completed a trade sending Sonny Gray to the Reds. Robertson will be missed but the same can’t really be said about Gray who struggled mightily during his time in pinstripes and needed a change of scenery.

Every move the Yanks have made has been a good one in my opinion. Without further ado here’s how I’d rank their top five additions of the offseason thus far.

The first move on the list was just made official on Thursday when the Yankees announced they signed Adam Ottavino to a three-year, $27 million deal. The 33-year-old right-hander was born and raised in Brooklyn and now he’ll get the chance to play for the team he grew up rooting for as a kid.

Ottavino is coming off a career-year with the Rockies a season ago where he went 6-4 with a 2.43 ERA, a 0.99 WHIP and an impressive 112 K’s (13.0 K’s per 9). He was dominant in 2018 and really announced himself as one of the top relievers in the game today. Ottavino will fit nicely into this Yankee bullpen because of his ability to strike hitters out at a very high rate and his effectiveness against right-handed hitters.

Last season Ottavino held righties to an ERA of 1.79 ERA, a .142 BA, and a .236 SLG %. He was no slouch against left-handers either but throughout his career, he’s been much tougher facing righties. That’s mostly because of his frisbee-like slider which is one of the most unhittable pitches in the game today. He also has a nasty two-seam fastball that he uses extremely well to induce a ton of soft contact.

With the aforementioned David Robertson now gone Ottavino essentially replaces him in this year’s pen. He’ll be used similarly by manager Aaron Boone pitching anywhere from the sixth to ninth inning when called upon. Dellin Betances and Zach Britton will be used as the primary set-up men in front of Aroldis Chapman so Ottavino can be used earlier in games as one of the first relievers out of the pen to clean up a starter’s mess and get out of a big jam.

Whatever role he ends up filling Ottavino will help this Yankee team shorten games and hold down leads better than any pen in the game. He’s a big-time addition and if last year was any indication it looks like he’s just entering the prime years of his career.

After the Yankees missed out on signing top free agent starter Patrick Corbin earlier this offseason the front office and GM Brian Cashman wisely shifted focus to re-signing J.A. Happ. Following the acquisition of James Paxton (who I’ll get to later) the Yanks still needed to add another front line starter to round out their rotation so trying to bring back Happ made a ton of sense.

Last season after he was acquired by the Yankees prior to the trade deadline Happ was outstanding, going 7-0 with a 2.69 ERA in 11 starts. He gave them everything they could have hoped for and more down the stretch to help them secure home field in the AL Wild Card Game.

Unfortunately, in the postseason, Happ struggled during Game 1 of the ALDS against the Red Sox allowing 5 earned runs in just two innings. However, despite how his season ended Happ proved that he can handle pitching in New York and that at age 36 he still has multiple years of production left in him. Happ reportedly was looking for a three-year deal from clubs during free agency and even had a few offers on the table before he ended up signing back with the Yanks for a two-year deal with a vesting option for a third.

At this point in his career, Happ clearly wants to win and knows that this Yankee team is going to be in a position to contend for a championship for at least the next two seasons. He was smart to accept the Yankees offer and bet on himself because all he has to do is make 27 starts or throw at least 165 innings which were two totals he surpassed in 2018.

Happ might not be an ace or a number two starter for this Yankee staff but he’s a very solid three or four and he’ll provide some much-needed durability and stability. He’s going to put up quality starts and keep the team in the game every time he takes the mound which should go a long way in helping the Yanks accomplish their first goal of winning the division.

When the offseason began I knew the Yankees were going to have a hard time bringing back both Zach Britton and David Robertson. I thought Robertson was more likely to be re-signed because I figured Britton would want to sign with a team that gave him the opportunity to close again.

Apparently, that wasn’t a priority for Britton and once D-Rob signed with the Phillies the Yanks made it a priority to bring him back. Britton signed a three-year deal for $39M to come back with a fourth-year option for $14M.

Bringing back Britton was a huge get for the Yanks because it gives them three shut down options to go to at the back end of their pen. That’s not even including Chad Green and the recently signed Ottavino who could both be just as dominant on any given day.

The reason I love this signing so much is that Britton is entering 2019 coming off a healthy offseason after he missed a large chunk of the beginning of 2018 recovering from a torn Achilles. With a full spring training to prepare for the regular season, I think there’s a good chance Britton will be even better than he was last season and returns to being the same guy he was for the Orioles from 2014-2016.

During those seasons there wasn’t a better reliever or closer in all of baseball. That’s scary to think about knowing that he’s projected to be the Yankees seventh-inning man in front of Dellin Betances and Aroldis Chapman. Those are three of the most unhittable pitchers in baseball when they’re on their game so if the Yankees can get the ball in their hands with a lead next season it should be game over.

Another takeaway from the Britton signing is he gives them some insurance in case either Chapman or Betances leave as free agents next season. If Chapman leaves Britton is a perfect option to take over as closer and if Dellin leaves Britton could take over the eighth inning. Hopefully, they both stay, but even if they don’t the Yankees bullpen should still be one of the best in the game for the next couple of seasons with Britton on the squad.

The best move the Yankees have made so far this offseason also happens to be the first big splash they made which was the trade for James Paxton. The trade took place all the way back on November 20th and saw the Yanks top prospect LHP Justus Sheffield head to Seattle along with RHP Erik Swanson and OF Dom Thompson-Williams.

Losing Sheffield stung at the time the deal was announced but it turns out the Yankees weren’t as high on him as we all thought so he became very expendable. As I stated earlier the Yanks number one goal this offseason was to improve their starting rotation and in order to do that they had to add two front-line starters. Adding the 30-year-old southpaw was a huge get especially because it happened so early in the offseason. That allowed the Yanks to shift their focus to the free agent market to add that second starter who turned out to be J.A. Happ.

Paxton is coming off a great season where he set a career high in strikeouts (208), starts (28) and innings pitched with 160. I know that total shouldn’t be looked at as a huge accomplishment but for Paxton it was and the Yankees believe that he can increase that total over the next two seasons in New York.

There’s definitely some injury concerns with Paxton (six DL trips in five seasons) but the good thing is that none of his past injuries have been to his pitching elbow or shoulder. That’s why there’s optimism about him finally being able to put together a full healthy season because most of his DL stints have been caused by freak injuries or muscle strains.

The reason the Yankees traded such a prized prospect like Sheffield for Paxton is they believe the risk is worth the reward with him if he can make 30-32 starts a season. They know that when he is healthy he has ace type stuff and the ability to shut down any given lineup in the league.

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Paxton has the perfect combination of power stuff and plus control. Last season he had a game where he struck out 16 batters and then in his very next start he threw a no-hitter. He also struck out 11.7 batters per 9 IP and only issued 2.4 BB per 9.

This was a move the Yankees made not only to help them win the division but to help them match up with some of the best rotations the AL has to offer in a potential playoff series. If Paxton can make it through the regular season healthy he can go toe to toe with anyone and be a game changer come October with his stuff.

Again, there’s some risk that comes with this trade due to Paxton’s injury history but because the reward could be so great the Yanks couldn’t afford to pass up on the chance to acquire him. I think all the additions they’ve made up to this point have been smart but when you can acquire a guy with his talent I’d say that has to their best move of the offseason.

The goal for this Yankee team is to win a championship next season and with Paxton now in the fold he increases their chances more than anyone else on this list to help them do just that.